The Italian doctor chosen for the task is a young prodigy from the University of Salerno. Hoping scientific investigation will exonerate the Jews, Henry calls on his cousin the King of Sicily whose subjects include the best medical experts in Europe and asks for his finest ‘master of the art of death,’ an early version of the medical examiner. Without the taxes received from Jewish merchants, his treasuries would go bankrupt. King Henry I is no friend of the Jews or anyone, really but he is invested in their fate. To save them from the rioting mob, the king places the Cambridge Jews under his protection and hides them in a castle fortress. The crimes are immediately blamed on the town’s Jewish community, taken as evidence that Jews sacrifice Christian children in blasphemous ceremonies. In medieval Cambridge, England, four children have been murdered. Albans, who happens also to be the father of Adelias daughter.A chilling, mesmerizing novel that combines the best of modern forensic thrillers with the detail and drama of historical fiction. So Adelia and her household ride to Glastonbury, where the investigation into the abbey fire will be overseen by the Church authoritiesin this case, the Bishop of St. As word of her healing powers has spread, so have rumors of witchcraft. Henrys summons comes not a moment too soon, for Adelia has worn out her welcome in Cambridge. He calls on Adelia Aguilar, Mistress of the Art of Death, to examine the bones. If the rebels are sure that the Once and Future King will not be coming to their aid, Henry can stamp out the insurgence for good. Struggling to put down a rebellion in Wales, where the legend of Celtic savior Arthur is particularly strong, Henry wants definitive proof that the bones are Arthurs.

The skeletons height and age send rumors flyingare the remains those of Arthur and Guinevere? The arsonist remains at large, but the fire has uncovered something even more shocking: two hidden skeletons, a man and a woman. Beautiful, tranquil Glastonbury Abbey one of Englands holiest sites, and believed by some to be King Arthurs sacred Isle of Avalonhas been burned almost to the ground. Combining the best of modern forensic thrillers with the drama of medieval fiction, New York Timesbestselling author Ariana Franklin returns with the third title in the Mistress of the Art of Death series.Įngland, 1176.

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